On Tuesday, August 6, 2024, a startup pitch and networking event called "Boost PITCH & CONNECT" was held at Moon’s Tokyo Studio. The event was held in a hybrid format (on site and via Zoom webinar) and attracted over 200 participants including in-person and online. At the event, 15 startups from the Spring ‘24 cohort of Moon's Boost startup support program presented their pitches
15 Startups
From Individual Entrepreneurs
Baby products review & ranking website with purchase option. Founder is Lina Kaneki.
Help distribution businesses grow with financing & technology. Founder is Yann Schuermans.
Internship and career orientation app for university students across Japan. Founder is Ken Taniuchi.
Health-conscious vegan snacks, gummy vitamins as first product. Founder is Royyan Wafi Pujiyanto.
Simplifies road trips planning in rural Japan for tourists. Founder is Takujiro Oto.
FitVit
Health-conscious vegan snacks, gummy vitamins as first product. Founder is Siward Ludin.
Guide/navigate visitors in local environments, voice-based. Founder is Toru Yamanaka.
Circular economy tech provider, digitizing the traditional collection system. Founder is Adi Saifullah Putra.
Small bicycle shop management platform with logistics capabilities. Founder is Jordan Scott.
Car-sharing marketplace where drivers can book cars from owners. Founder is Nik Muhammad Amin.
AI video interview for screeners and mock interviews. Founder is Agnes Wun.
Short-form video-based marketplace for local products. Founder is Salman Aljimeely.
Custom gift marketplace via smartphone keyboard extension app. Founder is Tito Guntur Safirda.
Marketplace for food products close to expiration date, at discounted prices. Founder is Maxim Haartsen.
V-bay
Online auction platform focused on imported used car from Japan. Founder is Noreen Nawaz.
Looking back on Boost PITCH & CONNECT
Boost Director, Moon Creative Lab.
Davide "We wrapped up the Spring ‘24 cohort of Boost – Moon’s 3-month startup support program – with an exciting event that showcased the progress of our participants. Boost’s mission is to help early-stage startups refine their product ideas towards product-market fit, offering them access to mentorship from Moon and industry experts, a supportive entrepreneurial community, and hands-on guidance from Moon’s product team.
Selected startups also have the opportunity to receive investment support. The event was filled with energy and innovation, as 15 of the 28 startups involved in Boost’s Spring '24 program pitched their products and services in front of a panel that included members of Moon’s leadership and investment teams. This hybrid event, attended both in-person and online, featured startups from various regions, with 50% of the startups from Japan and 50% from the APAC area.
The pitch event was packed with diverse ideas and different entrepreneurial spirits, as our Boost participants ranged from industries like food & beverage, digital retail, AI-based HRTech, family wealth, and more. Following the pitch presentations,two panel discussions were held with former Boost participants, providing insights into the growth and evolution of startups after completing the program.
We concluded the event with a lively networking session, accompanied by food and drinks, where Boost startups had the chance to connect with representatives from Moon, Mitsui, and other industry leaders.
A particularly exciting moment for startups in the recruitment sector was when established Moon startups, current Boost participants, and even applicants for the upcoming cohort – all from different countries – held lively discussions about the future of work. It was a powerful exchange, planting the seeds for potential partnerships and mutual support on the path to success.
With the Spring '24 cohort concluded, we are now gearing up for the Summer '24 cohort, set to begin on September 10. Applications are also open for the following cohort starting in November. We look forward to continuing our mission of supporting early-stage startups and we can't wait to see what their future holds."
Learnings from Talk Session
The pitch was followed by two panels. In the first, serial entrepreneur Ikumi Narui, who sold her company just one year after starting it and now represents Inter Holdings, Inc., which works to transform food logistics and achieve carbon neutrality through patented vacuum technology, and Shohei Horiguchi, former EIR of Moon, founder of Suup, a service that converts vacant space into unmanned coworking space, and currently a member of the Moon’s investment team after the business transfer, They shared their experiences and perspectives on a wide range of topics, from business creation to transfers and other progress.
The two particularly empathized with each other when Ms. Narui reflected on the difference between her past experience in the media business and starting her current business, and how the learning that comes from experiencing the process of starting and transferring a business can increase the options for the next step in business creation. The topic also expanded to various worries and struggles related to starting a business, such as the disadvantage that in-house entrepreneurs feel towards individual entrepreneurs and the fact that female entrepreneurs are easily pointed out for the small market size of their businesses. Many stories were shared to encourage the entrepreneurs, such as real-life experiences that showed how the fear they felt was just a misunderstanding, and how small achievements paved the way for the next step.
Horiguchi: If I were to give advice to myself at the time of starting a business, I would just say how important it is to act quickly, verify, and repeat the necessary pivots. And in starting a business, it is important to just aim high and find excellent colleagues. Those two things interact with each other, so I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that's the only thing that matters.
Narui: I was fortunate to experience business creation, product development, organizational development, and M&A with the help of various people early on. This experience allowed me to focus more on scalability in the next steps. The experience, results, and connections I gained from my first startup give me unlimited options for my second one.
Horiguchi: I am currently in the investment business, and the five years of experience I gained from starting my own business has been very helpful in understanding the stories of entrepreneurs when making startup investments. If I were asked whether I am an entrepreneur or an investor, I would say the former. Someday I would like to try my hand at starting a business for the second time.
Narui: It is said that there are not many female entrepreneurs, but this can be seen as a tailwind because they attract more attention than their male counterparts. Even if the market is small, it is important to produce results and use those results to attract the next opportunity. I think it is important to create your own environment.
The second panel was about building an organization for a startup that determines business results and the speed of growth.
Four speakers shared their experiences in finding co-founders and founding members and what they learned from their experiences.
Mr. Anno of DELIGHT Inc. gave advice on the co-founder matching tool provided by Y Combinator, as well as support from the government and accelerators. Anno said, “Japan has money, Tokyo is large and has an inexhaustible support program, and there are many large companies. That kind of environment is hard to find. I think it is a good idea to take full advantage of this environment.” He also talked about his experience in searching for co-founders, saying that he was satisfied with the results of his search after interviewing people he met through the matching tool, having them take an entrepreneurial aptitude test, and choosing someone different from himself.
Mr. Yamaguchi of Atsumell Inc. also had an experience where a founding member moved to another company when the company pivoted, and he said, "It's easy to find a co-founder if you focus on empathy for the product. However, pivots are common in startups and it is difficult to maintain a common motivation. It is necessary to share a vision at a high level."
Follow up with people you met at the pitch
Use matching tools
Take an entrepreneurial aptitude test
Meet people who share a common vision
Invite people with different personalities to be co-founders
Continually promote your vision on social networking sites
Take full advantage of government, Tokyo, and accelerator support for entrepreneurship
For more detail, Please check Boost page.
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